Straws have long been used to provide a conduit for liquid intake. Their long, hollow shape allows for the suction and easy consumption of most beverages. One primary benefit of using a straw is that it causes little to no spill and mess as a result of the limited rate at which fluid can flow through a straw. Straws can also easily be inserted atop conventional beverage containers to ensure that the contents can be enjoyed without the risk of spilling associated with an opening.
While a typical beverage straw can function properly for most homogenous beverages, such as water or a soft drink, a non-homogenous drink such as a smoothie or a milkshake may contain large particles of drink ingredients (for example, fruit chunks) which can impede or completely block the flow of liquid through the straw. An example of a prior art straw which attempts to address this problem is disclosed in US Publication 2010/0258498 A1 to Finelli. Other types of straws in the art have channels at one end to permit a fluid to pass by a set of flavored dissolvable beads to absorb the flavor of the beads. An example is a product offered under the trade name Magic Milk Straws.
While Finelli is an improvement over a conventional straw, embodiments of this disclosure will nonetheless still suffer from blockage caused by larger pieces or fragments of food/beverage or other material. The Magic Milk Straw also does not address this issue. To better address this limitation in certain beverages, an improved straw must be introduced.